(I’m at an anime convention out of state. While I’ve done conventions before, I’ve recently become disabled and need to use a wheelchair. I have friends with me, but because I don’t want to feel like a burden, I tell them they don’t have to stay with me, and they wander off. After a bit, I realize I don’t have the energy I thought I did, and find myself stuck in the lobby, unable to get back to my hotel. A couple passing by stops.)

Guy: “Hey, you all right?”

Me: “I’m fine–”

Girl: “You look like you’ve just been told bad news. You sure you’re okay?”

Me: “I’m just waiting for my friends to finish at [Event] so I can go back to my hotel.”

Guy: “What hotel are you at?”

Me: “It’s [Hotel], but I’m fine waiting.”

Guy: “Nah, we’re kind of headed that way, anyway. Want a push?”

(I accept. The guy hands the girl his bag and we start towards my hotel. We make small talk and they get me safely to my room, even going up the elevator with me and making sure I can get in. The next day, I run into them again.)

Me: “Hey, you’re the couple from last night! Thank you for your help!”

Girl: “It’s no problem, really! We just wanted to make sure you got back safe!”

(I’ve since been careful about having someone with me who can help, but I still appreciate their kindness for a total stranger!)

(My friends and I are avid cosplayers and anime fans. I arrive at one of my friend’s houses and find her tearing her bedroom apart. This happens only three months away from a convention.)

Me: “What the h*** happened here?”

Friend: “I can’t find my cosplay costume.”

Me: “That’s weird; you’re not type to misplace things.”

Friend: “This is a disaster.”

Me: “Calm down. There’s still time. I brought ice cream.”

(That usually cheers her up. On the way downstairs, we pass by her sister’s room. We hear moaning.)

Me: “New boyfriend?”

Friend: “Yup. God, why are the walls so thin?”

Guy: *panting* “Please, Mistress [Anime Character]…”

Me: “Did I just hear that right?”

(Turns out, her sister’s new boytoy had a thing for anime cosplay. The sister shamelessly took the costume and used it for bedroom activities. We literally caught them with their pants down. The costume was ripped and stained in several places, and we all had to pitch in to make a new one, this time not from scratch. My friend and her sister no longer live together, and no longer talk as far as I’m aware.)

(The library is closing, so I haul my bag onto the table and begin packing my stuff. One young lady, who has spent the past week in the library studying around the same time I was there, approaches me.)

Lady: “Can I see your pins?”

Me: “Sure.” *I hold out the straps on my bag to let her see all the pins running across it*

Lady: “Wow. There’s a lot of anime pins here. I didn’t think you were the type to like anime.”

Me: “I love anime. What type of person did you think I was?” *I ask good-naturedly*

Lady: “I dunno. I just didn’t think you were someone who liked anime. Like, I sorta thought you were a Christian.”

Me: “I am a Christian.”

Lady: “I meant the kind of person who goes to church all the time.”

Me: “I do go to church all the time.”

Lady: “Oh… Well, I just didn’t think you were the kind of person who likes anime.”

(I am a European girl working in a bar in Japan that advertises as being international. Foreign staff are often popular with Japanese customers who frequently tell us how “kawaii” (cute) we are. On this occasion I am talking to a couple of slightly drunk Japanese girls.)

Customer: “Aaaaaaah, you’re so cute!”

Me: *smiling, since we get this a lot* “Thank you.”

Customer: “Ah, you’re so cute! It’s because your face is small and you have a nose!”

Me: “Thank you…?”

(Apparently having a nose is somehow exciting!)

I am working with a coworker, and we’re both experiencing a couple of blessed minutes of downtime. We’re both big anime fans, so we’re chatting about the recent episodes of a show we’re both watching, “Attack On Titan”. The show is known for being quite intense and putting its characters through a lot.

Me: “Can you believe everything that they’ve been putting up with this season?”

Coworker: “I know! I keep saying, ‘We just can’t catch a break!'”

As we’re talking, an older customer is walking past and is glaring at us.

Customer: “That’s the problem with your generation! Always complaining about how hard you’ve got it! You always need little breaks! I don’t know what you think you’ve got to complain about, but back in my day, we just got on with it and didn’t expect a pat on the back for the privilege.”

Coworker: “Oh, sir, we weren’t complaining about our jobs. We’re just talking about a show we watch where the characters have to endure a lot, and we were feeling sorry for them.”

Customer: “Let me guess. They’re struggling because they have to work a full eight hours and they’ve run out of mental health days?” 

Coworker: “No, they have to fight man-eating giants who have just consumed all their friends and family in increasingly violent and disturbing ways.”

Customer: “Hmph! Sounds stupid! Back in my day, shows were about real things! Starsky & Hutch! Hawaii Five-O! And the real one, not that new one where everyone is Asian!”

Me: “Sir, did you need help with anything in the store?”

Customer: “No! I can do it myself! You should all just stop moaning!”

Coworker: “We will… try, sir.”

And off he went, looking for new things to grumble about.